A conventional semiconductor device typically incorporates multiple layers of a variety of materials on a major surface thereof. For example, to interconnect various portions of a semiconductor device a layer of conductive material in the form of one or more patterns of doped polycrystalline silicon or metal lines may be defined directly on the wafer surface. An insulating layer which might comprise, for example, silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, polyimide or some combination of materials typically overlies the conductive lines so as to provide electrical and physical protection. A second conductive layer, comprising one or more conductor lines, overlies the insulating layer and interconnects certain of the underlying conductor lines through apertures in the insulating layer. Furthermore, additional layers of alternating insulator and conductive layer may overlie the surface.
However, the fabrication of multilayer structures presents certain problems. When an insulating layer is disposed over a patterned conductor layer, the insulating layer will typically substantially conform to the topography of the conductor layer pattern. A second conductor layer pattern overlying the insulator layer will then conform to the topography of the insulator layer. When the insulator layer presents relatively high or steep "steps" along the contour thereof, problems such as cracking and incomplete coverage may occur in the overlying conductor layer. We have observed that these coverage problems may further be exacerbated when the underlying conductor layer comprises material(s) not having a uniform height across the wafer surface. In such a case there is the additional consideration of maintaining a relatively uniform insulator layer thickness between the underlying and overlying conductor lines while also minimizing the insulator layer step height, i.e. the difference between minimum and maximum elevations for adjacent portions of the insulator layer.